


The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

by chalklandingplace



Series: Lesbians-of-Color Fluff Ficlets [2]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Chance Meetings, F/F, Falling In Love, Ficlet, First Meetings, Fluff, Lesbian Character of Color, Lesbian Relationship, POV Character of Color, POV First Person, POV Lesbian Character, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chalklandingplace/pseuds/chalklandingplace
Summary: POV: The first time you mether...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Reader, Reader/Original Female Character - Relationship
Series: Lesbians-of-Color Fluff Ficlets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002102
Kudos: 6





	The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

_**Crack.** _

The sound of thunder startles me enough that I near fall off the bus stop bench. It’s been pouring for at least thirty minutes. I’m waiting for the rain to stop but it’s barely lightened up since sitting here. I check the time on my phone. _9:30 already?_

“You missed the last campus shuttle too?” A tall girl suddenly appears under the bus stop canopy. I nod, reluctantly. She chuckles. She’s drenched from head to toe and her glasses are foggy from the humidity. Her hair is braided into a bun held back by a black and blue, athletic headband. She’s wearing a blue tank top and black basketball shorts. "Do you might if I join you?" She asks, I shake my head. Her grey and black sneakers **_squish_** as she approaches the bench. She drops her duffel bag on the ground and slumps onto the bench next to me.

“I’m assuming you just finished basketball practice?” I start, “It’s kind of late though.” She stretches, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

“Yeah, it was rough. We just lost a game, so Coach made us run a lot tonight. I was sore enough that I needed to take an ice bath, which made me miss the shuttle.” She leans back, turning to face me. Her glasses aren’t as foggy so I can now see the street lamps reflecting off her light brown eyes.

“That really sucks, I’m sorry you had to do all that running,” I say; she shakes her head.

“No big deal, at least I'm in shape!" She grins, I can't help but smile. "What I do want to know is why _you're_ stuck here.” She points to the stack of books in my lap, “And what your major is.” I look down. My art history textbook sits atop my physics, English, and economics textbooks. I chuckle at the confusion it’s probably causing.

“I’m actually a nursing major, these are just for some of my gen-eds. I just bought them from the school bookstore today. I missed the last shuttle because I ran there after classes but it’s so far away that I didn’t make it back in time.” I look out to the street where the rain hasn’t slowed in the slightest. “Plus, it started to pour so I decided not to walk home until it lets up.” Her eyes are focused on me as I speak. _I’ve never had someone make such good eye contact._ She nods slowly.

“That makes sense.” She trails off, looking around. “How long have you been sitting here?” I look at my phone.

“Maybe twenty minutes?” She nods again. “I guess we can wait until the—”

“Let’s run back to the dorms together,” she blurts out, “You’ve been here for a while and the rain still hasn't let up, right? So, let’s just tough it out and get back as soon as possible.” I look down at my lap.

“I don’t want the rain to damage my books though,” I reply. I pull my backpack off my shoulder and show her the overstuffed bag. “My backpack is already full so it can't hold these too.” She stares at the bag, scratching her head.

“Hmm. Well, I could...” she starts. She pulls her duffel bag off the ground and into her lap. She unzips the side and pulls out a plastic bag. “Okay, I have an idea: I could put your books in here and stuff them in my bag!” She grins, “That way they don’t get wet.”

“You’ll carry my books for me?” I ask. It’s a tempting offer but I'd feel guilty for adding extra weight to an already heavy bag.

“Yeah, I don’t mind. It’s not even that much more weight. I’d much rather keep your books from getting destroyed since running back in this downpour was my idea. Plus, you'd probably never want to see me again and I can't have that.” She explains; I feel warm all of a sudden. I agree and she places the books in the plastic bag, then wraps it up several times before tucking them under her clothes in the duffel bag. She zips everything up and stands to her feet.

I stand as I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket and stuff it in my backpack. I tighten the straps on my bag and turn to her, so she knows I’m ready.

"Let's hold hands so we stay together." She suggests, throwing the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"What if I trip, then I'll take you down with me," I argue. _That would be so embarrassing._

"I'll catch you if that happens, I promise." I can see in her eyes she means it.

"Okay, I trust you," I reply, reaching out. She grabs my hand and interlocks her fingers with mine. Despite how cold it is, my face now feels hot. The rain starts falling harder.

“You ready?” She tightens her grip and I nod. She stops, “I never got your name!” I pause. _You’re right._

“It’s Dionne! What’s yours?”

“Rayah!” We start running.

~~~

**PRESENT DAY**

“This would look really good on you; I’d say it’s your style,” I remark as I pull the jacket off the rack and hold it up to her chest. She strikes a pose which makes me laugh.

“I’m starving! We should go to a food stall,” she says smiling. I nod in agreement and set the jacket back on the rack. I take her hand and kiss the top of it as I turn to walk through the market. She doesn’t budge. I turn back, puzzled.

“Actually, could you go find us somewhere to sit in the grass? The fireworks will be starting soon so I want to make sure we get a spot. I'm just going to use the bathroom real quick, okay?” She caresses my cheek softly, but it doesn’t stop me from frowning. I sigh, then grab her wrist and kiss her palm.

“Okay babe, I’ll see you over there.” I point to the grassy hill at the end of the market. She smiles. She turns the other direction and I watch her as she walks out of sight. I then make my way to the field next to the festival. I find a small clear spot near a tree and spread out our picnic blanket. I lay down on the blanket and close my eyes for a moment. I’m starting to doze off when she suddenly plops down beside me.

“Hey baby girl, I’m sorry for leaving you earlier."

"Hey babe! No worries, I thought I would wait for you so we can get food together.” I grab my purse and dig in it for the festival brochure. She sets her hand on my thigh.

“Remember when we first met?” She starts. I look up from my bag.

“Of course! It was four years ago. We both had missed the last campus shuttle, so we just ran to the dorms in that storm together. I got such an awful cold, but you carried my books and kept them dry so I couldn’t help but give you my number.” She laughs. _I never get tired of that laugh._

“Remember how I said we should hold hands to stay together?" I nod. "To be honest, I just really wanted to hold your hand but I didn't have the courage to be upfront about it." I place my hand on hers.

"That's so cute, I can't believe you're just telling me this!" I reply, she shrugs.

"I don’t know, this feels like the right time." She flips her hand underneath mine and squeezes it. "You know, I think I never would’ve gotten to know you if I didn’t miss the bus that night.”

“That’s not true, I’m sure we—"

“Dionne, I’ve loved you since the day we met in that pouring rain. Even though it took me three weeks to ask for your number, and even longer to ask you on a date, I couldn’t help but want to know everything about you. What you loved, what you hated, what you wanted out of life—and I wished to be a part of your life every day after we met. You made me a better person and there’s no one in the world that means more to me than you. I don’t want to go a day without you by my side.”

"I love you so much, Rayah. You know that. I've had some of the best times of my life with you, and you mean the world to me." I place my hand on her cheek. "I thought you were the sweetest thing because I knew you liked me before you ever admitted it but that just made me like you more."

"As much of a coward as I can be, would you still marry me?” I giggle.

"Of course I'd marry you, Rayah." I say, turning back to my purse for the brochure. I hear her shift around on the blanket behind me. I find the pamphlet and turn back to her. She's holding out a small box. I don’t realize what it is until she opens it. There’s a small silver ring with a yellow stone. _Wait._ Time seems to stop for a moment.

“So will you marry me?” She whispers, her hand is trembling. A firework explodes in the sky, her eyes sparkle in the light. I feel a few tears roll down my cheek. I lean forward and kiss her. After a moment, I pull away and place my forehead against hers.

“I said I would and I mean it—yes.” She wipes the tears from my eyes, then gently takes my hand. I stop breathing for a moment as she slides the ring onto my finger. It fits perfectly. I look up at her. Her face is flush as she stares at my hand, then our eyes meet.

"I know it’s not traditional but yellow is your favorite color and diamonds are the birthstone for April so I thought you would like it more than some generic engagement ring.” I intertwine both my hands with hers and we kiss again as more fireworks explode.

“It’s perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- "... for my gen-eds.": Short for "general education", used as a noun to mean classes every college student is required to take regardless of major (think college math, foreign language, lab science, freshman seminar, etc.)
> 
> Check out the other ficlets/short stories in this series for more lesbian-of-color fluff!
> 
> Please leave comments if you have ideas of scenarios I should write about next! Keep in mind I'm a shortttttt fiction writer, so I'll do my best but ficlets are my forté.


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